Baku Guesthouse

[likeaking]

WOW, this ia a game changer. There are hundreds of guesthouses in Pattaya/Jomtien, some are part of bars or restaurants. What's going to happen to them? The government is playing hardball and Cheap Charlies are in it's sights. 

Edited June 2, 2018 by likeaking

[PBear66]

You don't start changing website details unless you need to.

If this is implemented it will ruin these guesthouse businesses and bars with rooms will be in trouble to if 

that is possibly there profit margin eroded further.

A strengtening thai baht, Bangkok and Pattaya very quiet and seasoned mongers openly discussing trips to Spain etc for the

winter instead of Thailand.

I hope guesthouse bookings are a small part of Pattaya accomodation otherwise hotels will be fuller and there pricing will go up.

 

[striderman]

On 5/12/2018 at 21:01, striderman said:

i've been past the place countless times and the check-in location has always been a mystery to me. that unit would have been my guess but it's really not clear even in daylight

no wonder check in was not easy to find

[Tarl]

Is there a thread anywhere explaining the new rules members are talking about?  I didn't inow there were any.

[likeaking]

1 hour ago, Tarl said:

Is there a thread anywhere explaining the new rules members are talking about?  I didn't inow there were any.

Not so much new rules as enforcement of old rules. Any establishment offering room rentals shorter than a month must be licensed as a hotel. This rule was generally disregarded until recently when condo owners started renting their condos out through AirB&B, displeasing hotel owners. Looks like the powers that be are killing two birds (short-term condo rentals and cheap room rentals) with one stone. The hotels will be happy but cheap, short term accommodations will be scarce. IMO Soi Chaiyapoon(sp) and LK Metro, among others, come to mind.

Edited June 2, 2018 by likeaking

[Tarl]

58 minutes ago, likeaking said:

Not so much new rules as enforcement of old rules. Any establishment offering room rentals shorter than a month must be licensed as a hotel. This rule was generally disregarded until recently when condo owners started renting their condos out through AirB&B, displeasing hotel owners. Looks like the powers that be are killing two birds (short-term condo rentals and cheap room rentals) with one stone. The hotels will be happy but cheap, short term accommodations will be scarce. IMO Soi Chaiyapoon(sp) and LK Metro, among others, come to mind.

Awesome thanks for that. Very much appreciated.

[nachelitas]

6 hours ago, likeaking said:

This rule was generally disregarded until recently when condo owners started renting their condos out through AirB&B, displeasing hotel owners. Looks like the powers that be are killing two birds (short-term condo rentals and cheap room rentals) with one stone. The hotels will be happy but cheap, short term accommodations will be scarce. IMO Soi Chaiyapoon(sp) and LK Metro, among others, come to mind.

I got info from someone that rents out an appartment on AirBNB that the goverment is only targeting those who rents out entire buildings not a single private condo.

[likeaking]

24 minutes ago, nachelitas said:

I got info from someone that rents out an appartment on AirBNB that the goverment is only targeting those who rents out entire buildings not a single private condo.

Which would cover guesthouses though guesthouses usually have a shop/bar/etc. on the ground floor so "entire" is open to interpretation. What if the owner of the guesthouse also lives in it?

There are a posts by residents of the Base condos stating that individuals have purchased large blocks of condos there are renting them individually by the day/week.  Don't know how the governement will act on those owners, if at all. It'll  be interesting to see how this eventually pans out but I feel sorry for those guesthouse owners. 

Edited June 2, 2018 by likeaking

[davidge]

21 minutes ago, likeaking said:

Which would cover guesthouses though guesthouses usually have a shop/bar/etc. on the ground floor so "entire" is open to interpretation. What if the owner of the guesthouse also lives in it?

There are a posts by residents of The Base condos stating that individuals have purchased large blocks of condos there are renting them individually by the day/week.  Don't know how the governement will act on those owners, if at all. It'll  be interesting to see how this eventually pans out but I feel sorry for those guesthouse owners. 

Yes, the main implication of this really is for the guesthouse owners who have probably made significant investments only to be faced with this. I hope for their sakes it can be sorted.

As far as condos are concerned, it’s pretty clear that renting for less than 30 days IS a problem. It’s just a matter of if it’s cracked down on or not.

Even if something doesn’t come under the hotel Act, owners still have to inform the authorities if they’re providing accommodation. There are then property tax implications- and other implications.

[dead78]

If I remember rightly the hotel act states that a licence is needed for any properties offering stays under one month, however there is an exception as long as the following criteria is met:

1. The property has less than 5 rooms to rent
2. A total capacity of less than 20 people
3. It is being used for additional income

So hopefully a lot of the bars with rooms for rent should be allowed to keep offering them. However it looks like it might be hard times ahead for some of the bigger guesthouses as I can't see the market for month long rentals being big enough to sustain them. Although I do come to Thailand for a month I have a tendancy to move about a bit and not spend longer than 2 weeks anywhere.

Anyway hope that Baku and others affected by this get it sorted out.

[Ray 61]

1 hour ago, dead78 said:

If I remember rightly the hotel act states that a licence is needed for any properties offering stays under one month, however there is an exception as long as the following criteria is met:

1. The property has less than 5 rooms to rent
2. A total capacity of less than 20 people
3. It is being used for additional income

So hopefully a lot of the bars with rooms for rent should be allowed to keep offering them. However it looks like it might be hard times ahead for some of the bigger guesthouses as I can't see the market for month long rentals being big enough to sustain them. Although I do come to Thailand for a month I have a tendancy to move about a bit and not spend longer than 2 weeks anywhere.

Anyway hope that Baku and others affected by this get it sorted out.

I'm sure they are on the case 

[electro]

also noticed the hide away guesthouse only has monthly prices advertised

[Club Baku and Guesthouse]

THOSE WHO HAVE BOOKINGS IN JUNE PLEASE PM US WITH YOUR PHONE NUMBERS AND WE WILL PERSONALLY CALL YOU TO EXPLAIN THE SITUATION. ALL BOOKINGS AFTER JUNE SHOULD NOT WORRY PLEASE, ALL IS FINE. THANK YOU

[bullseye]

Very poor service by the sounds of it. I was looking to book this place for later in the year, will swerve it now.

[standard]

On ‎6‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 07:51, Klongwater said:

On the Baku website,they are only quoting monthly rates,no more daily options.

New rules kicking in then.

I was asked for a deposit.by the owner after using Booking .com, not for a month though.Most strange I thought , how odd and so refused that ,and past .

Edited June 8, 2018 by standard

[scottiepatts]

I booked and stayed last month for 5 days through Agoda and had no problems I stayed in room 8 it was on 3rd floor .It was excellent for 1000bahts per day,very large room, 2 showers,microwave and large curved led tv.very clean too and 1000 baht deposit when you arrive in case you lose the 2 keys (one to get into building and pigeon box and other one for door).i enjoyed my stay and will come back again.

[docbunsen]

On 08/06/2018 at 23:03, scottiepatts said:

I booked and stayed last month for 5 days through Agoda and had no problems I stayed in room 8 it was on 3rd floor .It was excellent for 1000bahts per day,very large room, 2 showers,microwave and large curved led tv.very clean too and 1000 baht deposit when you arrive in case you lose the 2 keys (one to get into building and pigeon box and other one for door).i enjoyed my stay and will come back again.

Glad you posted , it was starting to get a bit negative. Im booked later in the year and am looking forward to a relaxing stay in a stones throw to LK, hopefully with no downsides.

[soi dog 9]

On 24/06/2018 at 20:58, docbunsen said:

Glad you posted , it was starting to get a bit negative. Im booked later in the year and am looking forward to a relaxing stay in a stones throw to LK, hopefully with no downsides.

same same here. dont want to pull the plug on this as its in a good location for me. 

[jaynewcastle]

But last month (May) was before the problems of less than 1 month bookings started

I stayed at Boomerang across the Soi last month too, great location, apart from the usual noisy LB's at the bar beneath / to the side of the Baku rooms in the main building

 

[Club Baku and Guesthouse]

We have to apologize on behalf of the owner for no response and that the clampdown has caused quite a few problems in the reservation process. The guesthouse is still open and if you would like to book please send your booking through to the Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/Bakuguesthouse/

[Club Baku and Guesthouse]

We can confirmed that indeed we are changing the Baku Cafe into a GC and it will be open in the next few days. Some photos of the GC;

[Dazza118]

So you've gone from a luxury boutique guesthouse to a brothel with rooms upstairs? 55

[bar stool]

This new Club Baku is a rip-off and way too expensive for the kind of venue.

Bottled beers 120 baht, lady drinks (a small glass of still water on the rocks) 155 baht.

Several girls “have boyfriend” and don’t go with customers.

The other ones demand 2,000 baht ST and 3,000 baht LT.

The blue lighting gives the feel of a morgue.

The location in a dead end without foot traffic will not help either.

Unsurprisingly I was their only customer.

[harddrive]

I tried to rent a room on their web site 6 days ago and received an email saying the request was received but not confirmed and to wait for a confirmation email.  I still haven't received that and I assumed that it was because I was trying to book for less than a month.

I sent a follow up email to cancel the reservation request as I want to get my hotels firmed up but the email was kicked back because the recipient mailbox was full.

Anyone know what might be going on?  I thought I read somewhere that the owner is a BM.

[harddrive]

Just received a reply from their Facebook page and they said they couldn't process rentals less than one month.